Debates are taking place on many news portals concerning what precautions should be taken regarding the end of the world that is allegedly expected on 21 December, 2012, and which places are going to be safe or otherwise. First and foremost, “Knowledge of the end of the world is determined in the Sight of Allah and nobody can have full possession of it.” However, even though an exact date is not given, when we look at the hadiths of our Prophet (saas), we can see the events that will take place before the Day of Rising and realize that we are living in the final times before the Day of Rising and thus make an approximation of that date.

People are very interested in the secrets thought to lie hidden in the date 21 December. Much is being written on the subject and many interpretations are being made. I would also like to provide some little-known information on the subject based on the Mayan calendar....

21 December, 2012, is the last day of the Mayan calendar, belonging to one of the world’s greatest past civilizations. The Mayans referred to 2012 as “the end of times” and thus indicated that a long age would be coming to an end. This year appears not only in the Mayan calendar, but also in the prophecies of Nostradamus.

Nostradamus said that a time known as the Golden Age would begin in 2012. What makes the information provided by Nostradamus interesting is that these prophecies bear a similarity to the signs of the End Times described by our Prophet Muhammad (saas) 1400 years ago. (In other words, Nostradamus provided this information on the basis of the hadiths and would seem to have made particular use of the works of Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi.)

When we look at the Mayan calendar, we see that the world enters a new age every 1 million 872 thousand days and according to the calendar the history of the world is made up of periods (approximately) 5,125 years in length. It indicates that radical changes will take place at the end of each age.

We are now in the 5th and last age of the Mayan calendar. This cycle will end on the date 13.0.0.0.0, corresponding to 21 December, 2012, according to our calendar. According to their calendar, the date 21 December, 2012, was referred to as 13 Baktun, 0 Katun, 0 Tun, 0 Uinal and 0 Kin. Calculations by researchers show that 1,872,000 days will have passed from the beginning of the Mayan age, and that this age will then end and give way to another age, the Golden Age.

An excavation at the Coba pyramids, which also go back to the ancient Mayan civilization, discovered another stone carving dating back 2000 years. This carving says that an age beginning on 11 August 3114 BC will end on 21 December 2012 AD.

When we look at this information we can easily see the answer to the debates about whether “the end of the world will come on 21 December, 2012.” No. This is not the date of the end of the world. It is the end of the age we are now living in and a sign that the world will enter a new age, the Golden Age, on that date.

The “rising” that the Mayans have referred to is the rising in the souls and minds of people. As of 21 December, 2012, the acts of violence, wars, oppression, slaughter, economic crises, poverty and hunger on earth will gradually come to an end. This date will mark the beginning of a time when everyone on earth will live in peace, prosperity, plenty, abundance, love, wealth, brotherhood and cleanliness of all kinds. By Allah’s leave, we will all see the proofs of this in the days that follow.